Stephen Amell Says Arrow Season 6 is About Family

Stephen Amell says that the upcoming sixth season of Arrow will focus more on family than legacy. The CW’s flagship superhero series concluded season 5 last week, which united series veterans — Nyssa al Ghul (Katrina Law), Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman), and Deathstroke (Manu Bennet), as well as Captain Boomerang (Nick Tarabay) — in a conflict with newcomers Prometheus (Josh Segarra) and Talia al Ghul (Lexa Doig), among others. The writers and producers sought to conclude one chapter of Oliver Queen’s (Amell) story arc with the finale episode, titled ‘Lian Yu’.

The entire season fixated on Oliver’s past, having his choices come back to haunt him. In the early days of his crusade in Star(ling) City, Oliver killed the father of Adrian Chase, who would later go on to become the villain Prometheus. Chase didn’t just want Oliver to suffer, he wanted him to realize the type of man he truly was — the murderer underneath the hood. Sifting through Oliver’s history became the theme of the season, and that all came to a head in ‘Lian Yu’. The question is, what comes next?

Stephen Amell held a panel at Heroes & Villains Fan Fest in London this past weekend, not one week after Arrow concluded season 5, where he gave audiences an idea of what to expect in the coming sixth season. He said:

“The theme of Season 5 was legacy. From what I understand, the theme of Season 6 is family.”

The theme of legacy last season made sense, considering that Oliver spent five years missing — much of which was spent marooned on Lian Yu — and the season 5 finale concluded the series of flashbacks that began in the first season. We finally saw how Oliver managed to be rescued by a Chinese fishing boat all those years ago and fully understood what set him down the path to becoming the Green Arrow.

This past season, it was made clear to Oliver that he was haunted by the misdeeds of his father, and that’s something he will need to come to terms with going forward. And now that his son knows he’s the Green Arrow, perhaps we’ll see how Oliver acts as a father, especially given the events of last season’s finale. Moreover, Oliver mentioned that he would help Slade Wilson find his son. Since Deathstroke has been one of the series’ best characters thus far, having Oliver help Slade find his son would further drive home that theme of family.